Uncoupling mechanism



Sept. 21, 1948. w. J. METZGER 2,449,665

' UNCOULLING MECHANI SM Filed Jan. 5, 1945 s sheets-sheet 1 INVENTOR WILLIAM J. METZGER ATTORNEY w. J. METZGER UNCOUPLING MECHANISM Sept. 21, 1948.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 3, 1945, I

INVENTOR WILLIAM J.METZGER BY ATTORNEY Sept. 21, 1948. w. J. METZGER 2,449,665

' UNCOUPLING MECHANISM I Fil ed Jan. 5, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet s FIGB INVENTOR WII LIAM J. METZGER ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 21, 1948 priso- STA ES PATENT OFFICE I I estates I William I. Metzger', East Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to National. :Malleable and Steel Castings Company, Cleveland,.: Ohio, a corporation of Ohio 1 Application January3, 1945, Serial No. 571,134,

The invention relates in general to uncoupling mechanism for car couplers, and in particular to operating handles for rotary uncoupling (lock actuating) mechanism.

In my prior Patent No. 2;3i0,8'18, grantedFebruaryl; 1944;.1 have describedrotary lock actuating: mechanism comprising a rotor shaft l'l mounted in the coupler head and having at its outer end an eye 3'? to which an uncoupling rod is adapted to be hooked for impartingrotational movement to the shaft, or rotor H1 It is an obiect of my present invention toprovide an im-. proved operating handle for this type of rotary mechanism, and one which is specially adapted for. use with the form of coupler shown in my patent aforesaid without. alteration ofthe design ofv the coupler or its rotor shaft.

The usual form. of uncoupling rod (33 of my patent aforesaid) extends to the side of the car where it terminates in a. depending handle arliangedto be grasped. by the operator to uncouple the cars without going between them, or to place.

of the coupler operating rotor to hang at the.

side of the coupler, and which cannot be disassembled without taking the coupler apart, which is so constructed that it can swing behind the coupler head if struck by an opposing coupler or other object, and which in all positions is maintained with its gripping portion spaced from the side of the coupler to protect the operators.

hand and knuckles from pinching and scraping. further object has been to provide a coupler operating handle which is so constructed that.

it must be assembled with the rotor before the rotor is put into the coupler, yet which also prevents assembly of the handle and rotor with the coupler until the handle and rotorthemselveshave first been assembled properly.

These and other objects and advantages will appear more fully as the description proceeds.

In the drawings, which illustrate a preferred;

embodiment of the invention:

Figs. 1, 2 and 3' are side elevational views show-' ing the operating handle assembled with a cou pler, Fig. l illustratingthe relationship of the 7 Claims. (Cl. 213-146) 2 parts when the coupler is locked, Fig. 2 their-rela ti onslfrip at the conclusion of the knuckle throwi-ngcperation andbe-fore the handlehas been dropped, and Fig. 3 their relationship when the coupler is on Iockset.

Fig. is a'plan View. with a portion of the coupl-er head brokenaway in horizontal section to reveal the connection between the handle and rotor. The position of the parts corresponds to that of Fig. l, i. e., with the coupler locked.

Fig. 5 is a face view of the same, partly broken away invertical cross section at the center-line of the rotor.

Fig. 6' is a detail of aportion of Fig. 4, but with the handle'swung rearwardly, or wiped back,

as upon engagement by an opposing coupler or other object;

Fig 7' rear elevational View of the improved opera in-g handle, to an enlarged scale.

Fig. '8 is a View illustrating the steps of asthe handle with the rotor shaft, the handle appearing in front elevation and a por tion-cf the eye of the rotor being cut away in Vertical section; The dot-dash lines. show an intermediate position of the handle during as.

sembly.

"Referring first to Figs. 1 andi, Ihaveshown mypref'erred form of operating handle Ml ass-embled with the eye I I of a rotor shaft l2 in acou-pler !3 which may be of the construction describedin my prior Patent No. 2,340,818, aforesaid. The form of the rotor andeye also is well illustrated in that patent. The coupler head, adjacent the eye of the rotor, is formed with an overhanging flange M (Figs. 1 and 5) to protect coupler, further description thereof will not be repeated here but may be by reference to my prior patent aforesaid.

9 Reference next to Fig. "1, showing the. operating handle in detail. I shall describe the handle in relation to its normal position when th coupler. is locked, i. e., with the handle hangfreely in an approximately vertical position. The handle comprises. an approximately verticalgripping portion H' terminating at its upper end in an op'enlink portion it for engagement with the eye i l of the uncoupling mechanismrotor t2; (Part of the gripping portion i has been" broken away in Figs. 7 and 8, but it is shown complete in the other views.) The link portion I8 has a generally U-shaped end arranged to embrace one side of the eye I I with the base I9 of the U toward the coupler. There is a projecting portion 20 at the lower corner of the base of the U for engagement with a portion 30 (Fig. of the eye -I I of the uncoupling mechanism to maintain the gripping portion II spaced from the side of the coupler.

In the preferred construction the projecting portion 20 is formed as a part of the substantially flat base I9 of the U. An inwardly and rearwardly projecting lug 2| is arranged betweengripping portion I! and link I8. The link I8 has an upwardly and rearwardly projecting lug 22 for engagement with a portion of the coupler to prevent disassembly of the handle from the rotor eye I I once the assembled handle and rotor have been assembled with the coupler.

Also, in my preferred construction, the link portion I8, from its junction with the vertical portion 23 adjoining the gripping portion I1, is inclined upwardly and inwardly vis-a-vis the coupler as at 24, thence inwardly at 25, downwardly at 26 and outwardly at 21 with clearance at 28 between its outward terminus and the vertical portion .23.

When the handle has been assembled with the rotor and this assembly has in turn been assem- Med with the coupler, and the handle is hanging freely with the coupler in locked position, as illustrated in Fig. l, the fiat base I9 of the U of the link portion I8 faces the side of the coupler. The foregoing detailed description of the handle is to be considered with relation to this particular position of the handle. Thus, in this position, the link portion I8, from its junction with the vertical portion 23 adjoining the gripping portion, is inclined upwardly and inwardly visa-vis the coupler, thence inwardly, downwardly and'outwardly with clearance between its outward terminus and said vertical portion as aforesaid. In this position the projecting portion 20 of the link provides means for engagement with a portion of the eye of the uncoupling mechanism to maintain the gripping portion II spaced.

from the side of the coupler. Cooperating with this spacing means is the lug 2| between the gripping and link portions [1, l8. Thus, in my preferred construction, I have .provided spacing means on the link portion and spacing means between the gripping and link portions, these two spacing means cooperating to maintain the gripping portion spaced from the side of the coupler to. protect the operators hand and knuckles from pinching and scraping. Also, the lug 22 projecting upwardly and rearwardly from the link I8 provides means for engagement with the coupler to prevent disassembly of the handle from the rotor eye II. In fact, the handle cannot be removed without taking the coupler apart.

The construction which I have described has these additional advantages: The handle connection is sufficiently flexible that it can swing behind the coupler head, as shown in Fig. 6, if struck by an opposing coupler or other object. The handle must be assembled with the rotor before the rotor is put into the coupler, yet its construction is such as to prevent assembly of the handle and rotor with the coupler until the hanale and rotor themselves have first been assembled properly. The overhanging flange I4, which corresponds to the flange 39 of my prior patent aforesaid and which formerly served only as a.

' protector for the eye II of the rotor, now serves additionally to prevent disassembly of the handle in view of the particular features of construction disclosed herein.

Other features of my preferred construction are that the inwardly projecting terminal portion 21 of the link is substantially circular in cross section, while the downwardly extending portion 26 is rounded on one side and flattened on the other, the rounded side being that to which the lead line for reference 26 extends in Fig. '7, and the flattened side that to which the lead line for reference 26' extends in Fig. 8.

There is only one way in which the handle can be assembled with the eye of the rotor. Essentially three movements are required, as will be understood best with reference to Fig. 8, in which we look at the eye-end of the rotor shaft, that is, with the axis of the shaft extending normal to the plane of the drawing. The first step is to hook the link of the handle into the eye with the parts in the position shown in full lines in this view. The parts are then rotated relative to one another to bring the handle into the position shown in dot-dash lines at 29. If we consider that the rotor is held in a fixed position, this entails swinging the handle in a clockwise direction in a plane normal to the axis of the rotor shaft.

The next step is to turn the handle, or the rotor shaft, about the axis of the downwardly extending portion 26 of the link. Thus, if we consider again that the rotor is held in a fixed position, this entails turning the handle about the axis aa, bringing the parts into the relative position shown in Fig. 1, so that the rotor can be inserted in the coupler with the handle attached.

A further feature is the cooperation between the handle and the eye II of the rotor shaft in returning the handle from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the normal position shown in Fig. 1. It

will be observed that when the eye 'I I is in its normal position, the surface 3| thereof (Figs. 1, 5 and 6) slopes forwardly, downwardly, and laterally away from the coupler. When the handle is swung back, as in Fig. 6, it rides up this sloping surface 3| so that, as soon as the handle is free to drop, it rides back down this sloping surface, restoring itself by gravity to its normal position.

The terms and expressions which I have employed are used in a descriptive and not a limiting sense, and I have no intention of excluding such equivalents of the invention described, or of portions thereof, as fall within the purview of the claims.

I claim:

1. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanism of a car coupler, said handle, described in relation to its normal position when the coupler is locked, comprising an approximately vertical gripping portion terminating at lits upper end in an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion having a generally U-shaped end arranged to embrace one side of the eye with the base of the U toward the coupler, and said U-shaped end having a projecting portion at the lower corner of the base of the U for engagement with a portion of the eye of the uncoupling mechanism to maintain the gripping portion spaced from the side of the coupler, an outwardly extending portion of the U-shaped end adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle about a vertical axis.

2. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanism of a car coupler, said handle, described in relation to its normal position when the coupler is locked, comprising an approximately vertical gripping portion terminating at its upper end in an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion having a generally U-shaped end arranged to embrace one side of the eye with the base of the U toward the coupler, and said U-shaped end having a substantially fiat base, an outwardly extending portion of the U-shaped end adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle about :a vertical axis.

3. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanlism of a car coupler, said handle, described in relation to its normal position when the coupler is locked, comprising an approximately vertical gripping portion terminating at its upper end in an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion having a generally U-shaped end arranged to embrace one side of the eye with the base of the U toward the coupler, and said link portion having an upwardly projecting lug for engagement with a portion of the coupler to prevent disassembly of the handle from the rotor eye once the assembled handle and rotor have been assembled with the coupler, an outwardly extending portion of the U-shaped end adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle about a vertical axis.

4. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanism of a car coupler, said handle, described in relation to its normal position when the coupler is locked, comprising an approximately vertical gripping portion terminating at its upper end in an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion having a generally U-shaped end arranged to embrace one side of the eye with the base of the U toward the coupler, and said link portion having an upwardly and rearwardly projecting lug, an outwardly extending portion of the U-shaped end adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle (about a vertical axis.

5. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanism of a car coupler, said handle, described in relation to its normal position when "the coupler is locked, comprising an approximately vertical gripping portion terminating at its upper end in an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion from its junction with the vertical portion adjoining the gripping portion inclining upwardly and inwardly viis-a-vis the coupler, thence extending inwardly, downwardly and outwardly with clearance between its outward terminus and said vertical portion, the outwardly extending portion of the open link adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle about a vertical axis. a

6. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanism of a car coupler, said handle comprising a gripping portion and an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion comprt'sing means for engagement with a portion of the eye of the uncoupling mechanism to maintain the gripping portion spaced from the side of the coupler, means adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle about a vertical axis, and means for engagement with the coupler to prevent disassembly of the handle from the rotor eye.

7. An operating handle for the rotary uncoupling mechanism of a car coupler, said handle, described in relation to its normal position when the coupler is locked, comprising an approxi-- mately vertical gripping portion terminating at its upper end in an open link portion for engagement with the eye of the uncoupling mechanism rotor, said link portion from its junction with the vertical portion adjoining the gripping portion inclining upwardly and inwardly vis-a-vis the coupler, thence extending inwardly, downwardly and outwardly with clearance between its outward terminus and said vertical portion to form a U-shaped end, and said U-shaped end having a substantially flat base, the outwardly extendling portion of the U-shaped end adapted to coact with the coupler mechanism in limiting forward pivoting of the handle about a Vertical axis.

WILLIAM J. METZGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 989,439 Starling Apr. 11., 1911 1,038,786 Pendexter Sept. 17, 1912 2,000,435 Baveley May 7, 1935 2,340,818 Metzger Feb. 1, 1944 

